Crystal Lakes — Thursday, Jun. 15, 2023

This is a great trail for a good workout. It never gets too steep and is not rocky, but it is relentlessly uphill all the way to the upper lake (and beyond).

At 8:30 AM I was the first hiker on the trail to Crystal Lakes. The trail is in good condition, though there was a NPS crew + WTA volunteer that had removed a couple small blow-downs and were improving the drainage (thank you to them!). Another hiker (Brendan) headed to Crystal Peak caught up with me, and we hiked together for a while; I saw a total of about 15 hikers all day.

There were a few small patches of snow on the trail between the two lakes (see photo). Neither lake was frozen, so the upper lake must have just thawed out from the day before (a photo from the previous trip report shows a little ice on the upper lake). There is a toilet at the lower lake campsite; it was super clean.

I hiked about .75 miles above the upper lake, hoping to connect to the PCT, but ran into snow patches that were very slippery. I put on Yak-trax to cross the first snow (see photo), but 50 yards on another patch of snow was steeper and very icy. It didn't look safe and, having promise my wife that I wouldn't do anything stupid, I turned back.

Early spring wildflowers everywhere, starting at the first lake! Regardless of season, this is  a beautiful and favorite hike (my 4th time in four years).